Carr's call centre plan to free up principals

A computerised call centre will save school principals from wasting hours on the phone finding a casual teacher, under a $6.2 million plan announced by the State Government yesterday.

Unveiling the first Labor policy of the 2003 election campaign, the Premier, Bob Carr, also said that a flying squad of permanent primary school teachers would be allocated to districts in western Sydney, which have difficulty in getting staff.

A pool of teachers specialising in English as a Second Language (ESL) and special education will also be established for schools in the Penrith, Fairfield and Parramatta areas.

Mr Carr said the casual teachers' strategy hinged on the new call centre, which is estimated to cost $5.2million over four years.

The centralised system would allow principals across the state to make one telephone call or send one email to identify a relief teacher.

Already trialled in six school districts last year, it will be rolled out statewide. By the end of term one this year, 470 schools will be on line in the districts most difficult to staff. These include Blacktown, Mount Druitt, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Penrith, Parramatta and Wagga Wagga.

Another 11 school districts - including Dubbo, Bankstown and Granville - covering a further 157 schools, will be next. The remaining 29 districts will be brought on line by the end of the year.

Mr Carr said the plan aimed to ease access to the 30,000 casual teachers on the Department of Education's books.

"Unfortunately some principals have had to make up to 60 phone calls, taking several hours, to get a casual teacher," he said.

"Our new plan means that principals will only need to contact a call centre operator who will do all the ringing and find a suitably qualified casual teacher."

The Government's casual teaching plan also includes:

Extra teachers for 10 hard-to-staff high schools as part of a trial to provide a ready-made relief pool. Teachers at these schools will take extra classes if one of their colleagues is away.

Examining a proposal to allow permanent teachers to cash in up to 11 days of long-service leave every year - rather than taking long absences - in a bid to reduce the demand for casual teachers.

The NSW Teachers Federation and primary and secondary school principals welcomed the plan.

Last night the president of the NSW Teachers Federation, Maree O'Halloran, said that the Government's investment was small, with no extra funding from Treasury, but described the package as "well-targeted".

"The long-term success of the plan will depend on the availability of qualified teachers who are not already employed elsewhere at higher rates of pay," she said.

But Ms O'Halloran and the president of the Primary Principals Association, Geoff Scott, expressed dismay about the proposal to allow cashing-in of long-service leave.

She said doing so while continuing to work was unlawful, and the Government would then need to change legislation which affected all workers: "It's a great pity the Government tarnished an otherwise positive plan in this foolish way."